Otolith Weight and Fish Length of Sardinella Sindensis
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Dehghani et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:44 DOI 10.1186/s41200-016-0039-0 MARINE RECORD Open Access Otolith dimensions (length, width), otolith weight and fish length of Sardinella sindensis (Day, 1878), as index for environmental studies, Persian Gulf, Iran Mohsen Dehghani1,3*, Ehsan Kamrani1, Ali Salarpouri2 and Sana Sharifian1,3 Abstract Background: Sardines are the most important commercial fishes for Iran. However, information about biology and ecology of sind sardine in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea is scarce. Methods: In this study, relationship between fish length and otolith length, -width and -weight of Sardinella sindensis from Bandar Lengeh and Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf were analyzed. In total, 128 and 120 fishes collected from Commercial catches during March 2011- February 2012 in the Bandar Lengeh and Qeshm Island respectively. Results: There were no significant differences between left and right otolith (t-test, P > 0.05) or between males and females otoliths (ANCOVA, P > 0.05). For these reasons, only right otoliths were used for next analysis and data of both sexes were pooled. Relationships between fish length and otolith length, width and weight were described by linear regression models and high correlation was shown for all relationships. The highest correlation was between fish length and otolith length (Bandar Lengeh, R2 = 0.8722; Qeshm Island, R2 = 0.8661) and relationship between fish length and otolith width showed less correlation than other relationships (Bandar Lengeh, R2 = 0.7355; Qeshm Island, R2 = 0.7275). Conclusions: The result from this study shows that fish length and otolith growth have a positive relationship, so can be a useful tool to evaluate the growth of fish and fish stocks and finally fisheries management. Keywords: Fish length, Otolith, Sardinella sindensis, Persian Gulf Background population and for fisheries management, furthermore the The inner ears of all teleost fishes contain three calcified analysis of microstructure otolith have greatly developed structures, which acts as balance and hearing organs for stock identification, feeding ecology of predators, and (Popper et al. 2005). Otoliths serve as a permanent rec- the determination of migration direction in fishes species ord of the life history of an individual fish (ICES 2004), (Campana & Thorrold, 2001; Mendoza 2006, McFarlane and they hold a wealth of information on daily age, size, et al. 2010). The application of otolith only is not re- growth and ontogeny of fishes (Gerard & Malca, 2011). stricted to ichthyology, but also extended widely for some The otoliths continue to grow throughout their life and aspects of palaeontology, stratigraphy, archaeology and do not resorb in time of stress (Yaremko, 1996; Mendoza, zoogeography (Tuset et al. 2008). The size and shape of 2006). Thus, they are one of the most reliable tools for otoliths are variable according to species and size of fish identification of growth rates, structure of age in a certain (Eroglu & Sen, 2009). The relationship between fish length and otolith dimensions, can be useful to estimate the size * Correspondence: [email protected] and age of prey collected from stomach and feeding habits 1 Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of of fishes (Hunt, 1992; Granadeiro & Silva, 2000; Khodadai Hormozgan, P.O.Box: 3995, Bandar Abbas, Iran 3Young Researcher and Elite Clube, Islamic Azad University, Bandar abbas & Emadi, 2004, Pombo et al. 2005, Rizkalla & Bakhoum, Branch, P.O.Bbox: 79159-1311, Bandar Abbas, Iran 2009; Javor et al. 2011). Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2016 Dehghani et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Dehghani et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:44 Page 2 of 6 Sardines are small pelagic fishes that live in coastal wa- The aim of this study was to gain understanding of the ters of many sea and ocean. They feed on planktons and relationships between fish length and otolith dimensions are eaten by other fishes, so they are important in marine of S.sindensis, through regression analysis. food web (Emmett et al. 2005; Salarpouri et al. 2009). In addition, sardines are consumed as fresh meal for humans Methods and as commercial powder (Bennet et al. 1992; Hill et al. Fishes were selected, randomly, from commercial 2005; FAO, 2011). Many studies for sardine genus have catches using purse seine nets. A total of 120 fishes were been performed on the otolith structures, such as growth collected from coastal waters of Bandar Lengeh (26°55′ and mortality estimation, identification of fishes, deter- 27″N 54°88′14″E) and 128 fishes from Qeshm Island mine the fish stock and trace migration pathway of fish (26°41′43″N 55°37′06″E) in North of Persian Gulf (Nair, 1949; Krzeptowski, 1983; Cergole & Valentini 1994; (Iran) during March 2011 to February 2012 (Fig. 1). Butler et al. 1996; Watanabe & Nakamura, 1998; Gaughan Fishes were transported to the laboratory of Persian Gulf & Mitchell, 2000, Silva et al. 2008; Mehanna & Salem and Oman Sea Ecological Research Institute, Bandar 2011; Ward et al. 2012; Dehghani et al. 2015). According Abbas. to FAO (2011), Sardinella sindensis is the most important First, total fish length was measured to the nearest commercial fish for Iran and Pakistan. However, a few 0.1 mm, and then sex determination was done under studies have been performed on the structure of otoliths stereomicroscope. Chi-square test was performed for sex in S.sindensis from Iran. The age and growth of S.sindensis differences. Otoliths were extracted from heads of sam- was studied using annual rings of otoliths from Persian ples, cleaned and dried. Otolith weight was measured by Gulf and Oman, Iran by Dehghani et al (2015). Otoliths using digital balance to the nearest 0.0001 g. For measur- tend to grow linearly in length and width with increasing ing the otolith size, images were taken under a stereo fish size, and to grow linearly in thickness and weight with microscope linked to a video camera (Motic Image Plus increasing fish age (Donkers, 2004). For most species, 2), and otolith length and -width were measured using im- the relationship between otolith length and fish length aging software (Motic 2) to the nearest 0.01 μm. Otolith can be described by a simple linear regression (Harvey length is the distance from the midpoint of the rostrum at et al. 2000). point A through the primordium to the posterior edge at Fig. 1 Sampling areas of Sind sardine, Sardinella sindensis, Bandar Lengeh and Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf, Iran Dehghani et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:44 Page 3 of 6 Fig. 2 Otolith of S. sindensis, distance between point A and B indicating otolith length and distance between point C and D indicating otolith width point B. Width is the distance perpendicular to the length sexes were pooled. Otolith length, -width and -weight passing through the primordium (Fig. 2) (Javor et al. measurements in addition fish length and weight are re- 2011). Differences between left and right otolith were corded in Table 1. tested by paired t-test and between males and females by Relationships between fish length and otolith length, using ANCOVA (Matic-Skoko et al. 2011). ANOVA was -weight and -width were described by regression model used to test for significant differences in area. Relation- and linear equation. The equation for otolith length and ships between total fish length and otolith length and fish length was (OL = 171.51 TL+ 257.63; R2 = 0.8661) -width described by linear equation as TL = a (L) b, where for Qeshm Island and (OL = 165.06 TL+ 401.64; R2 = TL is total fish length, L is otolith length or otolith width, 0.8661) for Bandar Lengeh. Regression models and linear and a, b are constant coefficients. For express relationship equations of all relationships are shown in Figs. 4, 5 and between total length fish and otolith weight was used a linear equation like above equation that described as TL = a (OW) b, where OW is otolith weight. Regression 9 Qeshm Island method was analyzed by using Excel software (version 8 male 7 2007) for determining the relationships between fish 6 female length and otolith length,-width and -weight. 5 n=128 4 3 2 Results Number of fish 1 In total, 128 fishes from Qeshm Island and 120 fishes 0 from Bandar Lengeh collected (Fig. 3). Chi-square test was performed assuming equal sex ratio and results with a degree of freedom, did not show significant differences 2 2 Bandar Lengeh between the sexes (X = 1.2, df =1, p > 0.05) and (X = 10 male female 1.125, df =1, p > 0.05) for Bandar Lengeh and Qeshm, 8 n=120 respectively. 6 Minimum-maximum and mean fish lengths for Bandar 4 Lengeh were 8.1-18.3 and 12.7 cm respectively and those 2 for Qeshm were 7.9-18.6 and 12.9 cm, respectively. All Number of fish 0 measurement of left and right otoliths were tested and no significant differences were observed between left and right otolith (t-test, P > 0.05) and between otoliths of female and males (ANCOVA, P > 0.05), therefore, only Fig. 3 Number of S.sardinella collected from Bandar Lengeh and Qeshm Island (Persian Gulf) during March 2011 to February 2012 right otolith used for next analysis and data of both the Dehghani et al.